Ok after last weeks beast of a blog Ill try to keep this (relatively) short.
After the fun and frolics of golden week, I went back to work on the Friday and the Saturday.
Saturday night was to be another leaving party, this time of Claire and Sari, 2 fellow ACC teachers who I didn’t know that well, but well enough to see them off. They would be celebrating it in Nisshio which is about an hour outside Nagoya, such is the habit of ACC to put their schools in the remotest of places.
We were going to start at an organic restaurant (which motivated Ayae to join us), and then go to a bar and some Karaoke afterwards. To get to Nisshio we managed to hitch a ride with Yumiko (one of my Saturday students who used to be taught by Claire), and we were joined in the car by my manager Yoko and Thomas who also used to teach Yumiko.
The journey was a little over an hour, and after sitting down at our reserved table, the rest of the party arrived comprising mainly of ACC teachers, and students. The restaurant, like the one near our apartment featured all you can eat fruit parfait complete with ice cream. Actually I swapped the glass they normally give you for the epic orange juice glasses they give, meaning I could get twice as much fruit and ice cream as everyone else (all credit to Alan Partridge).
After eating a ridiculous amount we went to Dojin Bar which was really awesome. The bar was big for Japan, and the décor was in an African style, complete with bongos that you cou
ld drum when you wanted the attention of a waiter. The party lost a few people when we went here but gained a few more, and so still was about 30 strong. After drinking and chatting for a bit we left and there was a mad dash to the people who had brought their cars to try to blag a lift. Altho me and Ayae left it a bit late we managed to get a lift with fellow Brit, Rob, who conveniently had a 6 seater.
After getting lost and driving round Nisshio for what seemed like hours we eventually found ourselves at the Karaoke box which really had to be seen to b
e believed. Although we had driven past countless Karaoke boxes, I wondered why they had chosen one so out of the way and when we got their I realized. This place was an absolute dive; the interior was about as ugly and cheap as could be, there were countless holes in the walls boarded up with MDF, and instead of subdued lighting and comfy sofas they had lighting with all the subtlety of a 24 hour supermarket, and some cushions on the floor.
Anyway we managed to get a room which could fit in the remaining 15 odd people we had left. The room, in fitting with the “style” of the rest of the bar featured a picture of a city skyline which was peeling o
ff the wall, and of course a karaoke machine (which was in all fairness fairly up to date). Because of the ridiculous amount of people, it was at first only possible to get in about one song every 90 minutes, but after a while people started leaving. In the end there was about 5 people left, everyone else had either gone home or was sleeping so we could sing loads of songs.
Around 6 there was a train to Nagoya so me and Ayae said our goodbyes and after getting lost in Nisshio for a bit found ourselves at the train station. When we got into Nagoya we went to a bakery for some breakfast befpre heading home and getting some sleep.
The next week I worked 5 days (like a real human being!) and on the following Saturday went out to meet Bob. Our friendly neighborhood hip hop superstar Texas was going to be performing live with his “Long Castle Million Street” band mates and so this was an occasion I didn’t want to miss. I also managed to bring out a few people I hadn’t seen in a while including my friend Ian, a brummie English teacher (of course) who had been in Japan a few years.
After the drinks had been flowing (including some “Stairway to Heavens”; an absinth cocktail which is 68% proof), Ian revealed to me in secret (so don’t tell anyone, right?) that he was a “Bokshin”. I had read about these before b
ut never thought Id meet one, or that one of my friends would actually be one. A “Bokshin” is a gaijin priest hired for weddings to give couples a western feel for their special day, except the thing is they`re not real Priests, in fact most of them aren’t even Christians. Ian gave me the low down on what it involves anyway.
After the fun and frolics of golden week, I went back to work on the Friday and the Saturday.
Saturday night was to be another leaving party, this time of Claire and Sari, 2 fellow ACC teachers who I didn’t know that well, but well enough to see them off. They would be celebrating it in Nisshio which is about an hour outside Nagoya, such is the habit of ACC to put their schools in the remotest of places.
We were going to start at an organic restaurant (which motivated Ayae to join us), and then go to a bar and some Karaoke afterwards. To get to Nisshio we managed to hitch a ride with Yumiko (one of my Saturday students who used to be taught by Claire), and we were joined in the car by my manager Yoko and Thomas who also used to teach Yumiko.
The journey was a little over an hour, and after sitting down at our reserved table, the rest of the party arrived comprising mainly of ACC teachers, and students. The restaurant, like the one near our apartment featured all you can eat fruit parfait complete with ice cream. Actually I swapped the glass they normally give you for the epic orange juice glasses they give, meaning I could get twice as much fruit and ice cream as everyone else (all credit to Alan Partridge).
After eating a ridiculous amount we went to Dojin Bar which was really awesome. The bar was big for Japan, and the décor was in an African style, complete with bongos that you cou
ld drum when you wanted the attention of a waiter. The party lost a few people when we went here but gained a few more, and so still was about 30 strong. After drinking and chatting for a bit we left and there was a mad dash to the people who had brought their cars to try to blag a lift. Altho me and Ayae left it a bit late we managed to get a lift with fellow Brit, Rob, who conveniently had a 6 seater.After getting lost and driving round Nisshio for what seemed like hours we eventually found ourselves at the Karaoke box which really had to be seen to b
e believed. Although we had driven past countless Karaoke boxes, I wondered why they had chosen one so out of the way and when we got their I realized. This place was an absolute dive; the interior was about as ugly and cheap as could be, there were countless holes in the walls boarded up with MDF, and instead of subdued lighting and comfy sofas they had lighting with all the subtlety of a 24 hour supermarket, and some cushions on the floor.Anyway we managed to get a room which could fit in the remaining 15 odd people we had left. The room, in fitting with the “style” of the rest of the bar featured a picture of a city skyline which was peeling o
ff the wall, and of course a karaoke machine (which was in all fairness fairly up to date). Because of the ridiculous amount of people, it was at first only possible to get in about one song every 90 minutes, but after a while people started leaving. In the end there was about 5 people left, everyone else had either gone home or was sleeping so we could sing loads of songs.Around 6 there was a train to Nagoya so me and Ayae said our goodbyes and after getting lost in Nisshio for a bit found ourselves at the train station. When we got into Nagoya we went to a bakery for some breakfast befpre heading home and getting some sleep.
The next week I worked 5 days (like a real human being!) and on the following Saturday went out to meet Bob. Our friendly neighborhood hip hop superstar Texas was going to be performing live with his “Long Castle Million Street” band mates and so this was an occasion I didn’t want to miss. I also managed to bring out a few people I hadn’t seen in a while including my friend Ian, a brummie English teacher (of course) who had been in Japan a few years.
After the drinks had been flowing (including some “Stairway to Heavens”; an absinth cocktail which is 68% proof), Ian revealed to me in secret (so don’t tell anyone, right?) that he was a “Bokshin”. I had read about these before b
ut never thought Id meet one, or that one of my friends would actually be one. A “Bokshin” is a gaijin priest hired for weddings to give couples a western feel for their special day, except the thing is they`re not real Priests, in fact most of them aren’t even Christians. Ian gave me the low down on what it involves anyway. Apparently you turn up to the restaurant or wherever the reception is, in your robes and dog collar (provided by the agency), spend about an hour and a half giving a sermon in Japanese and get paid about 4 times what you get for teaching English.
Anyway its another one of those bizarre Japanese cultural aspects which somehow makes me love this place even more. It was well funny when Ian rejected the offer to come to the club because he had to be up to give a sermon. He did also offer to put in a word for me to his agency if I was interested, but I figured with only 2 months more here it probably wouldn’t be worth it but still, its good to know I can be a fake priest if I want to.
After an hour or so my friend Tomomi turned up with a couple of her friends, and after a couple more drinks, we headed out. While we were outside discussing how we were going to get a taxi there with 7 people, my friend Rob Lowe (yes, that’s his real name!) spotted me. Rob is the Brit who gave us a lift to the Karaoke bar the week before. Anyway its pretty random that he happened to see me, especially since he had just lost all the mates he had been out with. With little persuasion needed, Rob agreed to join us to see Texas live.
After a bit of Taxiing and walking we somehow found ourselves in a slightly dodgy area of Sakae where there were countless shady men offering us topless bars. Eventually we found ourselves at “Loop”, where we had met Texas and Bob the first time. While we were waiting outside to gather our crew, Texas and his band (including the legendary Dimbar) came outside and said hello. Dimbar welcomed me with a massive hug and repeatedly shouting my name which was a good as welcome as any.
After a bit everyone arr
ived and we went inside just as Long Castle Million Street were starting their set. Whilst the last time I saw them they just had their DJ, on this occasion they were complete with a live bassist and drummer, and they totally smashed it. I always think proper live hip hop sounds well good and these guys were no different with Texas and Dimbar making the perfect frontmen. After an immense set, some DJs came on and we shared some drinks with the band.
The music was well random (as Loop always seems to be) with House, Trance, RnB and pop and even some random 80s tunes. And through the dancefloor we met loads of people including Yuji and Yuji, 2 friends who sounded and acted like a comedy duo. Anyway they were well safe and befor
e long, me, Rob and the 2 Yujis were the only ones on the dancefloor (Bob had fallen asleep on the sofas bless him). The club closed at 3 but we had to wait around til the first train at 6 so me and Rob went to a Dennys to get a huge breakfast, mine comprising of a steak, some chips, a big salad, and a bigger bowl of rice. After dossing there for a couple of hours with the rest of the post-club people it was eventually time to go home.
I managed to get about 4 hours kip but had to be up as me and Ayae had a day out planned. We went to the Nagoya-Ko (Nagoya port) area to see the aquarium they had there. W
hen we arrived the sun had come out in force and we headed towards the aquarium building. On the way we saw this inflatable model thing which had air being rapidly blown in and out causing it to flap about at high speed like a mad man. Its difficult to describe, but anyway it was proper funny.
After making our way into the aquarium and seeing some dolphins and other exhibits we headed to the stadium to catch the dolphin show which was about to start. When the dolphins were released into the main tank, I heard some kid shout at the top of his lungs “KAWAII!” which means “cute”. I don’t think its possible to hear a more Japanese heckle.
When the show started, it was absolutely awesome, Ive
never been to a dolphin show before so I don’t have much to compare it with, but the animals were proper smart and were pulling loads of awesome tricks including jumping on cue as well as doing that thing where they try to stand up in the water and move backwards.
One of the most impressive things they did was when they dived into the water at the same time as a trainer threw a Frisbee, and while the Frisbee was still in mid air, leapt out of the water and caught it in their mouth. Also at one point these contraptions on a zip line were transferred over the middle of the tanks. They then lowered a ball on a string, although it was still proper high. One of the dolphins dived unde
r water and then leapt a good 20 feet into the air and hit the ball with its nose.
At the end of the show the dolphins swam onto an area on the side of the tank out of the water, and arched their backs. Then, simultaneously with the trainer took a bow to the cheers of the audience.
5 minutes later they had the Killer Whale show who would be accompanied by some dolphins. When the giant Orca came into the tank the crowd started salivating (not really!). Anyway the killer whale did similar things to the dolphin, albeit at a much slower pace. It even did the jumping out of the water
and hitting a ball thing, although the ball was obviously lower. Still, the Killer Whale was proper impressive whenever it leapt out of the water and landed with a huge splash. In fact we had to move back from our 3rd row seats as we started getting wet every time he landed.
This show also featured the whale and 2 dolphins landing on the “shore” on the side of the tank. When the whale tried to get back into the water, it took a few seconds of it flapping its huge body about and in the process p
ushed one of the dolphins back into the water. They finished the show with the Killer Whale and 2 dolphins diving underwater and “waving” with their tails, which was pretty awesome.
After that epic show we got some Churros and some Takoyaki, and still being hungry went to an Italian restaurant. I had a clam chowder soup with a baked pie crust on top which was awesome. After that we went back into the aquarium and saw loads of awesome fish with awesome faces and also saw a B
eluga show which was cool as it made these weird noises and caught a ball in its mouth. O yeh and we also saw some penguins which were awesome as always.
After that we headed back to Nagoya for a few bits and pieces before returning home. The next week I worked 6 days as I had been covering for my workmate Lauren who had taken a week off. The classes were all pretty good and in fact many of the students I`d taught before as I had a different schedule up until last month. The new students were mostly good and being a substitute teacher I could pretty much just mess about and play games in most of the lessons. One of the lessons was a private class with a 12 year old who was possibly the most mature 12 year old (or person for that matter) Ive met in Japan. Not in a way that he wasn’t like a kid or fun but in the way he addressed people and interacted with them. Its really difficult to describe but I was proper taken aback by his extreme confidence and friendly manner, especially since the class preceeding it was with a 15 year old girl who said about 2 words the whole lesson.
Another class I covered for Lauren on the previous Friday was also of note actually as it featured 4 year olds, one of which was a girl who spent the first 15 minutes crying and literally screaming at the top of her lungs (I guess freaked out by the fact that there was a new teacher). After giving up trying to console her (this just made her scream more) I left her to it, although myself and the other 2 students couldn’t really say or hear anything such was the volume of this girls screams. Anyway after about 15 minutes the manager of Handa (where this school was located) took pity on me and removed her from the class.
After a busy week of no
n stop work, I figured I deserved a night out so went out to meet Bob to celebrate his birthday. We met at our “local”, The Hub, where I also met Bobs older brother Kohe who had actually studied at Ayaes university and so spoke quite good English. Regardless of this I managed to keep the conversation mainly in Japanese. After a few drinks in the Hub we went onto the Shanari Shanari Izakaya which was run by one of Bobs high school friends.
We ate some awesome food including Sashimi, edamame, meatballs, chicken, and these awesome slices of Ray which were dipped in chili mayonnaise (really delicious!). After a while, our friends Callie and Min showed up, and after a few more minutes Bobs younger brother Tomoya. It seemed the craziness travelled in reverse age order in Bobs family, as Tomoya was nuts especially compared to Kohe who was quite reserved (Bob is a nice even mix). Tomoya, like Dimbar had great fun in shouting my name at high volumes mid conversation to get my attention. Tomoya spoke
no English whatsoever, and so every joke me, Callie and Min made he demanded a translation which I usually couldn’t give.
After drinking til about midnight we left and went to Club Buddha where they were having some sort of a funky house night. It was the tenth anniversary of some record shop so the place was absolutely packed to the rafters. The music was awesome and we met loads of random people mainly due to Tomoya who tried to talk to pretty much everyone there. At one point we were outside the club chilling out and everyone who came out or came in he would shout out in English (usually about 2 inches from their face) “Hey Boy!!” or “Hey Girl!!” which did lead us to think he was going to get punched at one point.
One bloke had a farmers hat on and upon us subtly discussing this, Tomoya decided to repeatedly shout out “Hey Farmer!” , leading to a “He`s-not-with-us” moment. After an hour or so we left the club and tried to find a taxi. It was absolutely pouring with rain, but we managed to get a taxi. Callie went home, but me, Min, Bob and his brothers went back to Bob and Kohe`s house deep into the suburbs of Nagoya. Tomoya had gotten married a couple of months ago but Bob and Kohe were still living with their parents (common in Japan I think).
Anyway we sat around
talking for a while and at one point their dad came down and saw us. Needless to say he was a bit shocked to see 2 gaijin chilling out in his living room at 4am. After a while Bob and his brothers went to sleep, and they provided me with a futon to sleep on the floor in the living room.
The next morning we got up and met Bobs mum, and then Kohe gave us a lift back as Bob was still too smashed to drive. I got a pretty good nights (or days) sleep when I got in as I woke up around 5.
Ok that’s about it for this week, unfortunately I broke my rule about keeping it short, but o well I don’t really care.
Much love.
Jack
Anyway its another one of those bizarre Japanese cultural aspects which somehow makes me love this place even more. It was well funny when Ian rejected the offer to come to the club because he had to be up to give a sermon. He did also offer to put in a word for me to his agency if I was interested, but I figured with only 2 months more here it probably wouldn’t be worth it but still, its good to know I can be a fake priest if I want to.
After an hour or so my friend Tomomi turned up with a couple of her friends, and after a couple more drinks, we headed out. While we were outside discussing how we were going to get a taxi there with 7 people, my friend Rob Lowe (yes, that’s his real name!) spotted me. Rob is the Brit who gave us a lift to the Karaoke bar the week before. Anyway its pretty random that he happened to see me, especially since he had just lost all the mates he had been out with. With little persuasion needed, Rob agreed to join us to see Texas live.
After a bit of Taxiing and walking we somehow found ourselves in a slightly dodgy area of Sakae where there were countless shady men offering us topless bars. Eventually we found ourselves at “Loop”, where we had met Texas and Bob the first time. While we were waiting outside to gather our crew, Texas and his band (including the legendary Dimbar) came outside and said hello. Dimbar welcomed me with a massive hug and repeatedly shouting my name which was a good as welcome as any.
After a bit everyone arr
ived and we went inside just as Long Castle Million Street were starting their set. Whilst the last time I saw them they just had their DJ, on this occasion they were complete with a live bassist and drummer, and they totally smashed it. I always think proper live hip hop sounds well good and these guys were no different with Texas and Dimbar making the perfect frontmen. After an immense set, some DJs came on and we shared some drinks with the band.The music was well random (as Loop always seems to be) with House, Trance, RnB and pop and even some random 80s tunes. And through the dancefloor we met loads of people including Yuji and Yuji, 2 friends who sounded and acted like a comedy duo. Anyway they were well safe and befor
e long, me, Rob and the 2 Yujis were the only ones on the dancefloor (Bob had fallen asleep on the sofas bless him). The club closed at 3 but we had to wait around til the first train at 6 so me and Rob went to a Dennys to get a huge breakfast, mine comprising of a steak, some chips, a big salad, and a bigger bowl of rice. After dossing there for a couple of hours with the rest of the post-club people it was eventually time to go home.I managed to get about 4 hours kip but had to be up as me and Ayae had a day out planned. We went to the Nagoya-Ko (Nagoya port) area to see the aquarium they had there. W
hen we arrived the sun had come out in force and we headed towards the aquarium building. On the way we saw this inflatable model thing which had air being rapidly blown in and out causing it to flap about at high speed like a mad man. Its difficult to describe, but anyway it was proper funny.After making our way into the aquarium and seeing some dolphins and other exhibits we headed to the stadium to catch the dolphin show which was about to start. When the dolphins were released into the main tank, I heard some kid shout at the top of his lungs “KAWAII!” which means “cute”. I don’t think its possible to hear a more Japanese heckle.
When the show started, it was absolutely awesome, Ive
never been to a dolphin show before so I don’t have much to compare it with, but the animals were proper smart and were pulling loads of awesome tricks including jumping on cue as well as doing that thing where they try to stand up in the water and move backwards.One of the most impressive things they did was when they dived into the water at the same time as a trainer threw a Frisbee, and while the Frisbee was still in mid air, leapt out of the water and caught it in their mouth. Also at one point these contraptions on a zip line were transferred over the middle of the tanks. They then lowered a ball on a string, although it was still proper high. One of the dolphins dived unde
r water and then leapt a good 20 feet into the air and hit the ball with its nose.At the end of the show the dolphins swam onto an area on the side of the tank out of the water, and arched their backs. Then, simultaneously with the trainer took a bow to the cheers of the audience.
5 minutes later they had the Killer Whale show who would be accompanied by some dolphins. When the giant Orca came into the tank the crowd started salivating (not really!). Anyway the killer whale did similar things to the dolphin, albeit at a much slower pace. It even did the jumping out of the water
and hitting a ball thing, although the ball was obviously lower. Still, the Killer Whale was proper impressive whenever it leapt out of the water and landed with a huge splash. In fact we had to move back from our 3rd row seats as we started getting wet every time he landed.This show also featured the whale and 2 dolphins landing on the “shore” on the side of the tank. When the whale tried to get back into the water, it took a few seconds of it flapping its huge body about and in the process p
ushed one of the dolphins back into the water. They finished the show with the Killer Whale and 2 dolphins diving underwater and “waving” with their tails, which was pretty awesome.After that epic show we got some Churros and some Takoyaki, and still being hungry went to an Italian restaurant. I had a clam chowder soup with a baked pie crust on top which was awesome. After that we went back into the aquarium and saw loads of awesome fish with awesome faces and also saw a B
eluga show which was cool as it made these weird noises and caught a ball in its mouth. O yeh and we also saw some penguins which were awesome as always.After that we headed back to Nagoya for a few bits and pieces before returning home. The next week I worked 6 days as I had been covering for my workmate Lauren who had taken a week off. The classes were all pretty good and in fact many of the students I`d taught before as I had a different schedule up until last month. The new students were mostly good and being a substitute teacher I could pretty much just mess about and play games in most of the lessons. One of the lessons was a private class with a 12 year old who was possibly the most mature 12 year old (or person for that matter) Ive met in Japan. Not in a way that he wasn’t like a kid or fun but in the way he addressed people and interacted with them. Its really difficult to describe but I was proper taken aback by his extreme confidence and friendly manner, especially since the class preceeding it was with a 15 year old girl who said about 2 words the whole lesson.
Another class I covered for Lauren on the previous Friday was also of note actually as it featured 4 year olds, one of which was a girl who spent the first 15 minutes crying and literally screaming at the top of her lungs (I guess freaked out by the fact that there was a new teacher). After giving up trying to console her (this just made her scream more) I left her to it, although myself and the other 2 students couldn’t really say or hear anything such was the volume of this girls screams. Anyway after about 15 minutes the manager of Handa (where this school was located) took pity on me and removed her from the class.
After a busy week of no
n stop work, I figured I deserved a night out so went out to meet Bob to celebrate his birthday. We met at our “local”, The Hub, where I also met Bobs older brother Kohe who had actually studied at Ayaes university and so spoke quite good English. Regardless of this I managed to keep the conversation mainly in Japanese. After a few drinks in the Hub we went onto the Shanari Shanari Izakaya which was run by one of Bobs high school friends.We ate some awesome food including Sashimi, edamame, meatballs, chicken, and these awesome slices of Ray which were dipped in chili mayonnaise (really delicious!). After a while, our friends Callie and Min showed up, and after a few more minutes Bobs younger brother Tomoya. It seemed the craziness travelled in reverse age order in Bobs family, as Tomoya was nuts especially compared to Kohe who was quite reserved (Bob is a nice even mix). Tomoya, like Dimbar had great fun in shouting my name at high volumes mid conversation to get my attention. Tomoya spoke
no English whatsoever, and so every joke me, Callie and Min made he demanded a translation which I usually couldn’t give.After drinking til about midnight we left and went to Club Buddha where they were having some sort of a funky house night. It was the tenth anniversary of some record shop so the place was absolutely packed to the rafters. The music was awesome and we met loads of random people mainly due to Tomoya who tried to talk to pretty much everyone there. At one point we were outside the club chilling out and everyone who came out or came in he would shout out in English (usually about 2 inches from their face) “Hey Boy!!” or “Hey Girl!!” which did lead us to think he was going to get punched at one point.
One bloke had a farmers hat on and upon us subtly discussing this, Tomoya decided to repeatedly shout out “Hey Farmer!” , leading to a “He`s-not-with-us” moment. After an hour or so we left the club and tried to find a taxi. It was absolutely pouring with rain, but we managed to get a taxi. Callie went home, but me, Min, Bob and his brothers went back to Bob and Kohe`s house deep into the suburbs of Nagoya. Tomoya had gotten married a couple of months ago but Bob and Kohe were still living with their parents (common in Japan I think).
Anyway we sat around
talking for a while and at one point their dad came down and saw us. Needless to say he was a bit shocked to see 2 gaijin chilling out in his living room at 4am. After a while Bob and his brothers went to sleep, and they provided me with a futon to sleep on the floor in the living room.The next morning we got up and met Bobs mum, and then Kohe gave us a lift back as Bob was still too smashed to drive. I got a pretty good nights (or days) sleep when I got in as I woke up around 5.
Ok that’s about it for this week, unfortunately I broke my rule about keeping it short, but o well I don’t really care.
Much love.
Jack
P.S Heres a video of Long Castle Million Street`s set. Awesome.
2 comments:
Interesting story about the guy who wanted to introduce you to his wedding agency. Why did he want it kept a secret?
I don't know what visa you have but
did he tell you that you'd need the right visa ie.Humanities Visa is not acceptable?
I dunno I guess he felt there was something vaguely offensive about pretending to be a priest when he wasnt.
I have a working holiday visa so I think I could probably get away with doing that sort of work, but as I said theres not really time. Shame really...
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